Friday, October 21, 2016

We wondered here the other day where ABQ GOP Mayor Berry was on Trump? Voting for him? Against? Well, he was finally asked but don't expect a clear answer:

I find myself in the same position a lot of mayors around the country are in and that is as a mayor of a major city in America you have to work with the administrations. President Obama is a Democrat, I’m a Republican. We've had opportunities to work on transportation projects and things and you want to keep those lines open,” he said. Berry says this election has been a nasty one and it's better to keep his ballot to himself. "America right now is so overly partisan it's tearing us apart,” he said. That's not going to go over well with anyone. The Trump supporters are going to accuse him of cowardice as will the anti-Trump contingent. Gov. Martinez sounded more forceful when she said he was withholding her support from Trump, but she did not rule out actually voting for him, a fine point that some may have missed.

The subject could be revisited if Berry seeks higher office when he finishes his second mayoral term in December 2017.

About that political future, one soon-to-be candidate for mayor tells us he asked Berry if he had any intention of seeking a third term next year. He said Berry told him the chances of that are "zero." Berry has previously said that he would only seek two terms. A run for the 2018 GOP Guv nomination remains on the table.

GOOD QUESTION

Reader Charles Gregory comes with a salient question in light of Berry's nonanswer. Maybe some of our readers can help in answering it:

Are there any Republicans that will be on the ballot in Bernalillo County who have publicly said they do not endorse and will not vote for Trump? I posted this question to the county GOP, but they are not answering. I'd appreciate knowing. Thank you. Thanks, Charles. We'll let you know if we hear anything.

PENCE PLACE

GOP VP candidate Mike Pence made A quick ABQ stop Thursday--his second since August. What caught our eye was the venue. The Indiana governor held it at the Embassy Suites near downtown ABQ. This place gets hardly any attention but is a real gem. The Pence rally was timed well, coming in the 6 p.m. hour and garnering live TV coverage. However, NM is ranked likely Dem for the presidential race and expected to stay that way. Neither Clinton or Trump are buying TV time here.

After the Pence event we ran into a group of Republicans who had attended, including NM GOP Chairwoman Debbie Maestas. She beamed when asked how it went. "Great!" she exclaimed, and her company nodded their assent.

EARLY VOTE

Many of you will go to an early voting center Saturday to cast your vote. To help you with that here is in-depth election info from the League of Women Voters election guide and from the ABQ Journal's voter guide. Both are comprehensive and do not take sides. On the other hand, this year there is a different kind of voter guide--the Progressive Voter Guide is unabashed in its support of liberal candidates.